Remembrance
by Artygirl
Summary: The reason Skulduggery Pleasant cares for Valkyrie so much.  Told 1st person from Skulduggery's POV.
1. The Girl

A.N. I own only Melly, Cass, and Artemis. Also, I know the chapters are short; they're short and sweet, designed to be touching. Also, the story is told from Skulduggery's POV. Please review! Thanks, Artygirl.

Valkyrie. My partner, my student. So brave, so reckless. A stubborn little girl, yet one I care for.

When I first saw her, at her uncle's funeral, I quietly admired her strength. She had been so close to the dead man, yet didn't cry in front of others. She was all Gordon had been and more. Not one to quit because of one failure. When I saved her life she showed me she was both brave and stubborn.

Despite her being such a combination of traits I feel like I've known her forever.

Valkyrie is a combination of the three women I loved-my wife, my daughter, and my dearest friend. All of whom I failed. Two of whom are now dead, both because I failed them. Valkyrie is my chance to make it all right.


	2. The Wife

My wife. An Elemental like myself, similar to me, yet different. I can hold a vendetta for centuries. I did. She was quick to forgive. I had a hot temper, she a cool head. We balanced each other out.

I see her in Valkyrie in the moments when the girl stops and shows compassion. In how much she cares and won't give up trying to help, no matter the cost to herself. Melissa, called Melly, was the same.

We met when she was a frightened woman coming into her powers, coming to terms with them. I had been using mine for years. She had been taught early on that women, not just children, should be seen and not heard. That women were of the "gentler sex," which I knew to be false. Some of the fiercest, most heartless people I've ever met have been women.

I failed Melly by allowing her to be captured and killed for no reason. I can make that right by keeping Valkyrie safe, by allowing her to become the compassionate woman I know she can be.


	3. The Daughter

If Cass and Valkyrie had ever met each other they would've either hit it right off or hate one another, that's how similar they would've been, if Cass were still alive. The fierce determination and the inability to follow orders had separated my daughter from the smattering of other children in the camp.

Cass, like her mother, was killed to get to me. They've already tried to get Valkyrie for the same purpose. I won't, _can't_, allow that to happen. I can't let them get Valkyrie. She has the same dark, determined eyes as my dead child. I saw Cass's eyes after her murder-cold and glassy. I couldn't bear to see Valkyrie's eyes like that, too.


	4. The Friend

Artemis was-is-stubborn, filled with fire, unforgiving, subtle in battle, wise, and, above all, independent. Valkyrie has almost all of those traits-all bar unforgiving and subtle in battle. Artemis an Adept who can influence the mind, hence the subtlety. Unforgiving because she was ruthless to enemies, and doesn't easily forgive even her friends. The reason I haven't heard from her, haven't contacted her, in decades.

Artemis, as far as I know, isn't dead. Instead, I failed her when I came back from death myself. I was filled with anger over the loss of my family. That is no excuse for what I did.

She was the first person who saw me when I returned, the reason it happened to her. I was out of my mind with grief, anger, and determination to kill Serpine. Artemis found out that I was back, and since we were close friends she came to say hello.

My injured mind didn't recognize my friend and tentmate. I snapped and tried to kill her, tried to strangle her while using my Elemental magic in fire. I didn't care which she subcummed to, just that she did. She fought back, and I dropped her. She fled to her-once our-tent.

I could hear her sobbing through the cloth wall, and Artemis never cried. Later I heard her telling her story to our leaders and medics. I avoided people on my side for the rest of the war, and haven't spoken to Artemis since. I'm a touch scared of the tongue-lashing I'm sure to get from her.

The pieces of Artemis I see in Valkyrie fill me with hope that one day Artemis will forgive me. She'll be able to speak with me easy enough, mind to mind. Until then I'll content myself with the parts of her I see in my partner.

I may well never see any of the three until I am gone forever. Valkyire is not a substitute for them, but rather a force that keeps me from forgetting them. And as long as I have her I never will.


End file.
